The EU Court of Justice issues a long-awaited judgement clarifying the extent of an undertaking ’ s liability in follow-on actions (Sumal / Mercedes Benz Trucks España)

Concurrences Bulletin, Enzo Marasà, Irene Picciano and Francesco Tognato, 6 October 2021, e-Competitions

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On October 6, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ” or “Court”) issued a long-awaited decision in case C-882/19, Sumal SL (“Sumal”) v Mercedes Benz Trucks España SL (“MBTE”) [1]. The judgment shed light on whether, under EU competition law, the victim of an anticompetitive practice may pursue a “follow-on” action against the subsidiary of a parent company, even when only the parent was found liable for antitrust infringement by decision of the European Commission (“Commission”). This largely regards anticompetitive agreements under Section 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”), but also applies to abuse of dominance under Section 102 TFEU.

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